From the blotter/Police calls and court cases, Jan. 29 to Feb. 6

Jan. 29

Two vehicles were vandalized in Niagara Falls, including a Range Rover which sustained more than $1,700 in damage.

The owner of the 2003 Range Rover told police that sometime between 1 and 3 a.m. Tuesday, while parked in the 1700 block of Tennessee Avenue, someone spray painted orange and red all around the base of her vehicle, pried off both fenders and both taillights, removed the gas cap door, and smashed the driver’s side front and rear door windows. Damage was estimated at $1,750.

Another case of vehicle vandalism was reported in the 1500 block of Willow Avenue. The owner said sometime between 4 p.m. Monday and noon on Tuesday, someone smashed a rear window of her 2010 Dodge Caravan, causing $200 in damage.

Jan. 30

A warrant was issued by the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office for an employee accused of taking coffee and cash from her employer, Tim Hortons.

A manager of the Lockport store told deputies that she had reviewed store security tapes and found that the female employee was placing bills under her cash register drawer and only rang up purchases for one of five drinks at the store in the 5800 block of South Transit Road.

Deputies were asked to pursue charges, but a sheriff’s report did not note whether the worker had been arrested.

• A Meadowbrook Acres man told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies that unauthorized purchases were made using his bank card.

The 45-year-old Wheatfield man told deputies that purchases were made in North Carolina at an Auto Zone, a gas station and a grocery store, totaling more than $170, using a duplicate Citizen’s Bank card. Police in North Carolina are pursuing a suspect who used the card, according to deputies.

• A Niagara Falls man who roughed up his ex-girlfriend three times last year, despite the restraining order she obtained against him, pleaded guilty to two felonies in Niagara County Court.

County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas assigned Darrell K. Clause, 26, of Cudaback Avenue, to the judicial diversion program of court-supervised drug treatment. If he fails there, Clause faces up to eight years in prison for two counts of first-degree criminal contempt. But if he succeeds, his charges will be reduced to a misdemeanor with a probation sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Lisa M. Baehre said Clause assaulted the woman Sept. 13 and Oct. 22 in Niagara Falls, and after she moved to Lockport, he assaulted her there, too.

Jan. 31

Two men had their trucks parked behind the Mullane Motors building on South Transit Road in Pendleton when someone entered them and stole their plow controllers, police said.

The victims, a Niagara Falls man and a Sanborn resident, told sheriff’s deputies that their trucks were entered between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. and their Snowdogg brand controllers were taken. The controllers were valued at $213.

Feb. 1

A burglar stole $860 in cash from a Welch Avenue residence during a daytime burglary, Niagara Falls police said.

The home was entered between 8 and 11 a.m. by breaking out a bedroom window, according to reports. In addition to the money, which was stolen from a bedroom dresser, a Playstation 3 video game console was also taken from the home. Total loss was estimated at $1,160.

Feb. 2

A 36-year-old Newfane woman told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies that her purse containing cash and keys as well as her order of chicken wings were taken when she stepped outside to talk to a friend while at the Canalside Inn in Gasport over the weekend.

The complainant told deputies that she had been in the Main street bar near closing time at 2 a.m. Saturday and stepped outside to the parking lot for about 15 minutes to talk to a friend. She said when she returned to her table all the people at the bar had left and her purse, containing $80 cash, a driver’s license, debit card, car keys and other personal items, along with an order of chicken wings were gone.

• A checkbook was stolen out of an unlocked pickup parked at a Slayton Settlement Road home in Royalton overnight, sheriff’s deputies said.

The theft occurred between 9 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday. Police said they found footprints leading from the truck to a nearby roadway. The victim was able to successfully close his bank account before any fraudulent activity could occur, deputies said.

• Tools and hunting clothes with an estimated value of $1,200 were stolen recently from the front yard of a Lockport home where they were being offered for sale, sheriff’s deputies said.

A Johnson Road woman told deputies that she had placed the items in her yard with a “for sale” sign on Nov. 7, and found that they had been stolen later that day. Among the missing items were camouflage suits, jackets and bib pants, a saw set and a circular saw.

• A LaSalle-area resident told police that her car was broken into while parked in the 400 block of 22nd Street.

The woman told police that someone broke out the driver’s side window of her car, sometime between 9:30 p.m. Friday and 1:45 a.m. Saturday. The intruder stole a stereo faceplate valued at $200. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $275.

• A pair of gold rings, with a total value of more than $2,300, were stolen recently from a 93rd Street home, Niagara Falls police reported.

The owner told police that the rings were taken out of a container in a bedroom dresser, sometime since Jan. 20. She reported having a work team from the Niagara Community Action Program at the home since that time, speculating that someone from that group may have been responsible.

Feb. 3

A Wheatfield woman told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies that sometime in the past five days someone had made 18 withdrawals from her credit union.

The woman told deputies the withdrawals, totaling $1,049, were taken from her account at Western Division Federal Credit Union between Jan. 29 and Saturday.

He said a power washer was stolen, and someone attempted to take a lawn mower, but left it outside the building.

• A Commerce Court construction company reported two generators and power auger, valued at a total of almost $1,500, were stolen, according to Niagara County sheriff’s deputies.

An employee of Calamar Construction told deputies that the two 5,000 watt generators and a two-person auger were locked with padlocks in two wooden cabinets inside the company’s warehouse in Wheatfield.

There was no sign of forced entry, and the padlocks were not tampered with. A company spokesman told deputies that he believes a former or current employee who had a key to the warehouse and padlocks is responsible.

The Coleman generators were valued at $400 a piece, and the Honda power auger was valued at $650, according to deputies.

Feb. 6

Two men pleaded guilty in separate drug cases before Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas, who set April 24 sentencings for both.

Jason A. Kozlowski, 37, of Payne Avenue, North Tonawanda, admitted to a reduced charge of attempted fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance for selling Suboxone in that city June 12.

Lawrence A. Garabedian, 59, of 17th Street, Niagara Falls, who was originally charged with a felony sale of heroin Nov. 27, 2011, was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

His alleged supplier, Anthony A. Zacarella, 60, of Maple Avenue in the Falls, pleaded guilty Jan. 18 to third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and was admitted to the judicial diversion program of court-supervised drug treatment.